Hood struts won’t come off

Hello folks, I have a 2001 Toyota Sequoia Limited and the hood struts were in extremely poor condition so I bought some replacement struts. I went to install them today and I realize that I cannot remove the lower part of the strut, as there is no metal clip that holds it on like the top of the existing strut and both ends of the replacement strut. Tried gently tapping it with a dead blow hammer to see if I could get it to pop off, but it’s going to break if I do that anymore. Surely I can’t be the first person that’s run into this problem, but a Google search didn’t provide much help so either it’s not common knowledge or I’m not using the right search terms to get an answer to my question. I have the struts do I need to buy a replacement ball that goes on there or do I need to cut the existing one off , any assistance to solve this problem is appreciated.

 

Can you look at the replacement to help figure it out or do they use the clips? I'm pretty sure that if you fill the gap with something solid to pry against and pry directly near the ball with a pry bar, claw, or even a big screwdriver and apply the force straight out, they should pop off. Keep in mind, they need to be tight to function without falling off.

 

The replacements use the metal clips. I was bending the strut so I quit before it broke. I’m pretty strong, buddy, I took a woman’s self defense course a few years back.

 

Does the ball that it mounts on move freely at the bottom of the old hood strut.
If so, I would go ahead and loosen it then replace with a new ball.
The way you are explaining what options you have, either way you go will end up getting a new ball to mount lower strut on.

 

Yours may have been modified in the past as evidenced by whatever that clear tubing has going on. Unscrew the ball mount and see if you can get the ball out of the old strut on a bench, if not, new ball.

 

Last set I bought for a shell came with new ball studs and nuts. Hopefully that is a threaded hole.

 

It appears to be bolted to the metal on the side of the engine bay. It appears removable so I’ll need to track down the part number for that ball. Thanks for the reply.

 

that clear tubing was my doing 5-6 years ago when the existing tubing rotted out.

 

I assure you that was snapped on and will snap off if you get directly behind it with a prying tool. Trying to work it off several inches higher will not get the force in the proper position.

 

Well, I’ve used a crowbar, a prybar with a cheater bar and even a small pickle fork to try and pry that off at the connection. I had all 220 lbs of me hanging off it and all it does is bend. The metal around the head is bending now so how it’s supposed to just pop off is beyond me.

 

So I called a Toyota dealer a couple hours from me and got the answer. According to them, when you buy OEM hood struts, they come with new end brackets already on the strut. I’m going to use a dremel to grind off the existing head and the new hood struts have clips so they should just pop on. Thanks for the assistance, everyone.

 

Might have an internal spring around the internal circumference similar to some fuel line fittings and such. In that case, one needs to push that spring outwards with a special tool that is basically a split tube that clamps around the ball and is then slid forward to expand the spring which will allow the lift support to slide off. The fact is it was snapped on at some point and there is a method for removal. If there is in fact an internal spring. You can pry all day and it won't pop off until the spring is expanded. Many fuel lines and a/c lines in a variety of autos use this design and there is an array of different sizes of tools which are fairly cheap at your local parts store if you wish to try.